Friday, January 14, 2011

Hope HealthCare Services Recognized for Environmental Quality

First hospice in Florida to meet highest international standardsHope HealthCare Services is leading a state and national trend in making facilities more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

Hope has received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification for its Hope HealthCare Services Center, which opened in March in Lehigh Acres. LEED is an internationally recognized certification system that measures how well a building performs in environmentally critical categories:

Energy savings

Water efficiency

CO2 emissions reduction

Indoor air quality

Good stewardship of resources

The Center is the first LEED certified hospice facility in Florida and one of just four in the entire country. It is the first LEED certified building in Lehigh Acres.

“We have created an environment that adds greatly to the quality of life of those in our care,” according to Hope President and CEO Samira K. Beckwith. “Achieving the LEED standards while providing the best in safety and comfort is a significant milestone in Florida healthcare.”

Additional environmentally friendly, cost-efficient features include:

Solar-powered outdoor signage to conserve electricity

Outdoor lighting directed to minimize nighttime light pollution

Xeriscaping, using native vegetation in landscaping, requiring less maintenance, and no irrigation after the first year.

Maximized natural lighting inside the building.

Motion-sensitive light switches to save power when a room is not in use.

“We are very pleased that the finished Center accomplishes all of our goals, enabling us to provide the highest levels of care in an eco-friendly setting,” Beckwith said.

The 46,000 square foot Center, built by Kraft Construction, includes 24 individual hospice care suites; a PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) facility for daily activities; a café; a chapel available for memorial services, and community meeting facilities.